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Parenting WIN [Flying with Babies]

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day! We had a fun-packed weekend of parties, cakes, and Korean BBQ. :-) For those who traveled this past vacation — especially with babies, no less — here's a salute to you, and an inspiring story of consideration from the parents of 14-week-old twins. Yesterday, Redditor gigantomachy uploaded the following photo and captioned it, "Brilliant and thoughtful parents handed these out to everyone on my flight." Having previously voiced my opinion on traveling with babies, I can't help but applaud these parents for their ingenuity and consideration for their fellow passengers. This isn't to say that all parents who fly with their kids should go a similar route. Rather, those who choose to go the extra mile are sure to...

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Night and Day

This past weekend — at just shy of 9 months of age — Aerin finally sprouted her first two teeth. As I proudly ran my finger over Aerin's new incisors (and got repeatedly bitten in the process, as having her mother's finger shoved in her mouth is something that she obviously does not like), I couldn't help but think back to when Claire got her first teeth at 6 months of age. I had expected Aerin to get her first teeth at approximately the same age too, so the 3-month difference — which is quite large in a baby time — was yet another evidence of how differently my daughters grow, develop, and become themselves. One of the things I find most difficult...

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How to Cut Babies’ Nails

I used to dread cutting my children's nails. I know that many mothers do it while their babies are asleep, but my kids sleep in dark rooms (with black-out curtains) so that idea is out. I also know some mom bite their babies' nails. Well, those moms must have really sharp teeth because I have found that practically impossible! Confession: while attempting to clip their nails, I have cut into both Claire and Aerin's skin several times. And as any decent mother can tell you, making your own child bleed her own blood (anyone know what movie that's from? ;-) ) ranks up there with being covered in a thousand paper cuts and getting dipped in a vat of sweat. But all that changed a...

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A Day in the Life… (Part Two)

Welcome to the second half of my “Day in the Life” with a 18-month-old and a 5-month-old. You can go here to read the first half. When we left off, the girls were both napping while I was enjoying some alone time…

1:45pm: Both girls wake up from their nap at the same time! (This is very unusual.) However, I must note that Aerin did not sleep the whole way through — she woke up a couple of times, but I could tell that she would be able to sleep more if I let her, so I just popped the pacifier back into her mouth, turned on the mobile, and left the room. And both times, she had fallen back asleep after a few minutes of fussing.

(I would also like to say that Claire’s nap usually lasts 1.5 hours. Everyone told me that when your child transitions from 2 to 1 nap per day, he/she will sleep 2.5-3 hours…yeah, that did NOT happen with us. She’s always been a crappy napper, so I can’t say that I didn’t expect it.)

When both girls wake up at the same time, I usually go tend to the one that is crying first. (If both are crying? I go to Claire first, because they say that you should always go to the older child first in cases like these.) This time, Aerin is full-on crying while Claire is just babbling, so I go to the littler one first. I change her diaper and lay her on the playmat while I go to Claire. I change Claire and bring her out to the playmat too. Aerin doesn’t seem that hungry yet, so I leave her on the mat so that she can continue playing with her feet while I start feeding Claire. She finishes half a bowl of the seaweed porridge and a third of the sweet potato.